An Unexpected Adventure

This weekend I visited my cousin Shina up in Akita prefecture for Thanksgiving. I didn't know what we would do or who I would meet, although all I was really concerned with was seeing Shina and spending time with family on this American holiday.

To my amazement, we met with about 10 other folks in Akita and made ourselves quite a delicious little Thanksgiving feast. Kathleen, our host for the night, went to the trouble to cook TWO turkeys! Since Japanese kitchens don't normally have ovens, and when they do, they certainly can't accommodate a whole turkey, she had to take the turkeys to a special facility and do them up right. When we finally got to eating, we had 4 kinds of stuffing, 2 carved turkeys, 2 kinds of mashed potatoes, some corn salad, candied yams, green salad, turkey gravy, and Shina's "family recipe" curried fruit. Perhaps the only thing missing was cranberry sauce. Honestly, it's not just that I haven't had decent western food in 4 months; this dinner was amazing! We all ate until we made ourselves sick. Then, out came the desserts. We had 3 different kinds of pumpkin pie, I brought pumpkin bread (care of my mother and Trader Joe's), others brought apple pie, vanilla ice cream, and a few other little goodies. Finally, Corey, one of Shina's Canadian friends in Akita, made coffee and milk tea for those who would have it. We sipped our hot drinks over a serious game of Attack Uno. This special game is Uno-regular, with a special device that literally shoots random numbers of cards at players who are unfortunate enough to have been handed an Attack card. It's quite fun and raises the anxiousness of the game considerably.

Now, Thanksgiving dinner is not the unexpected part of my trip to Akita. The really interesting part came the next day when Corey and his friend Koji (Japanese guy from Chiba) picked me up at Shina's apartment and took me out for the day. Neither of them had to work, and Shina did, so we decided to make a it a guy's day. None of us showered and we headed out for the onsen. If you've read my previous posts about the onsen, you'll know that it's best to meet people when you're naked. It's cold in Akita this time of year, right around freezing, and Japanese houses don't really have decent heating or insulation systems. The notion of a hot soak was a welcomed invitation from Corey in weather like this.

Corey drove us closer to the mountains up past Lake Tazawako to a special onsen that he wanted to visit. When the road turned to dirt and black ice and it started to flurry I became a little skeptical about the kind of bath we were going to get. It seemed like there weren't any people, let alone a huge facility for bathing all the way up in mountains like this. We arrived at the spot and sure enough, there was an onsen. Sadly, however, it had closed for the winter. As we walked around, though, I was introduced to a whole new kind of onsen. All of the onsen I've been to have been largely indoor with clear filtered water and nice soaps to bathe yourself with. There's always a shower area where you must bathe rigorously before putting a single toe into the hot pools. This onsen was more rustic, had mostly outdoor pools, and little rivers of water ran through the center of the onsen facility. We couldn't walk between buildings without stepping into the stream. This made it perfectly clear why they would close in the winter months!

We trekked back to the car and Koji said that he knew of another onsen that we could drive to. When we continued down the road a piece, the terrain proved to be too dangerous to drive. So, we parked the car and hoofed it down the side of the bluff to the next onsen. When we arrived, this one was definitely open, but presented an even MORE rustic exterior than the previous one. We found the cashier, paid our few hundred yen to take a bath, and headed to the pools. This is where the real adventure began.

This onsen had no indoor washing area, no indoor pools, and no indoor changing area. Well, it had a shack with a door you could change in, but it was most certainly not climate controlled. It was just a little wooden hut with a door and some shelves. This led to the initial bathing pool (outdoor, but covered). In this pool, you could splash some hot spring water on yourself, even use some soap, but it was nothing fancy. And, remember, we're high up in the mountains and it's around 30 F. Not only was it cold, but the wind was blowing a bit and it was now snowing. I would like to say that shrinkage wasn't a problem, but I'd be lying! It was DAMNED COLD. We took our privacy towels, wrapped them around our heads, and jumped into the hot water. We three men sat there, talking, listening, sometimes just sitting, letting the whole rest of the world just disappear for an hour. The volcanically heated mineral water was like a thousand little hot Japanese hands tickling at my skin. The freezing cold air on my ears and face were the bites of Winter telling me how lucky I was at that moment. The steam lifting off of the water turned to ghosts of the earth as the they gently disappeared into the falling snow. It might be one of the fondest memories I have will have for the rest of my life.

On the lighter side, this onsen was "mixed", which means that men and women share the same baths. I saw a couple of obaa-chan (little grandmothers) at the onsen, but wasn't lucky enough to catch a glimpse of any younger Japanese beauties. No worries, because it probably would have made me nervous and detracted from the experience. But, after we got in the hot spring, I decided I needed a picture, so I hopped out and ran (quickly, mind you) to get my camera. When I got to the hut, there were 5 older Japanese women walking around the springs, just checking things out. They were bundled all the way up with hats, scarves, down jackets, and whatnot. I ran into the hut in my stark nakedness, and they immediately started muttering and giggling nervously. They kept repeating 'gomen nasai' or 'sumimasen' (both of which mean I'm sorry). But, I was unphased and just proclaimed loudly 'Ohayo Gozaimasu!' with a huge smile on my face. This means Good Morning in Japanese and they let out a full sigh and relaxed laughter as they hurried out of the hut. I'm sure I was more than they bargained for when they decided to take a walk around the hot springs! Imagine, a gaijin (foreigner), a clear foot taller than the tallest woman in the bunch, naked and wet, in the middle of winter and snow, yelling Good Morning at the top of his lungs and smiling!!! I still chuckle when I think about it.

As far as the rest of my trip with Shina, the whole weekend was equally fulfilling. She and I talked about our futures, enjoyed being with family, visited another onsen with Corey, ate Italian food, ate Indian food, had Starbucks coffee, brownies, scones, and did all the things that I can't do very easily back in my part of Japan. Corey took me to Kakunodate, an old Samurai village, where we toured some houses, visited some museums, and bought some Christmas gifts. On Saturday night Shina and I went with her South African friend, Soma, to a Jazz club called The Cat Walk. Soma's friend was singing that night and he gave a flawless rendition of the Girl from Impanema. His English is good, but he sang that song without any trace of an accent. Impressive to say the least.

Right now, I'm on my way home, writing this on the Shinkansen (bullet train). We're cruising through rural Japan around 200 MPH, just watching towns whiz by. The train is so smooth it sometimes feels like I'm floating home. Even when it's not so smooth, though, I'm still floating.

Have a wonderful week. I miss and love you all.
Michael
:-)

Good Morning Maikeru, You're in a Play.

As far as things on the Japanese Front go, I’ve been busy for the last week, so things haven’t seemed so dire. This past Saturday morning, I attended culture day at one of my Elementary schools. The children performed plays about cultural awareness, rice (par for the course), Mother Teresa, sea turtles, and a host of other topics. It was really fun and they are all so darned cute!

The event was held in the gymnasium of the school, which, as expected, is not temperature controlled. Recognizing the fact that it was about 38 degrees outside, it was considerably chilly inside. They had about 6 kerosene heaters set up on the gym floor, but you had to be less than 18 inches from them if you wanted to keep warm. The best cure was not to sit, but to stand and hop around like a lunatic. Strangely, though, nearly everyone was sitting seiza-style (Japanese style on the knees). I have no idea how they were able to walk after nearly 2.5 hours like that!

The funniest part of the day came when one of the teachers approached me and said “Hey Mike, you’re in a play. Come here!” Although I'm not shy and typically like to ham-it-up, I wasn't prepared to be in a play. Also, the level of English among the teachers at this school is low, so I was worried about getting instructions for what to do. The reply I got was "We do. You do same." OK. Me do same. They pointed to a costume on the floor. When I opened it up, it was a home-made Frog Suit! No problem. I can be a frog. But now I'm really getting nervous. What do I do in a frog suit? That also became rapidly apparent as the curtain was raised and we were revealed to the audience. I had to do summersaults and jump around making croaking noises. Oh, and if you were wondering, frogs don't go 'ribbit, ribbit' here. They do more of a 'gro---k, gro---k' kind of noise. Trust me, they sound the same, but the onomatopoeia is different. Luckily, I’m not an inhibited sort of fellow, so I just jumped around the stage like an idiot. The kids were laughing hysterically. All in all, it was fun.

After the culture fest, I went to a Japanese friend’s house (yes, I’ve made one) and cooked chili. It turned out great and was a big hit with the family.

Sunday, I played in a volleyball tournament for my town. I had the winning point on the first game, but after that they realized that my true talents lie outside of volleyball, so they pulled me from the game!!! I was relegated to water boy. But, that’s fine by me because we were getting our arses handed to us and it absolved me of responsibility for future losses.

Finally, Sunday night, I went up to a nearby city and participated in “Interculturalization” with a bunch of Afghan Civil Servants here on an exploratory mission. We had a big banquet and I actually got something other than Japanese food for a little while. Plus, I met a couple of attractive Japanese girls and took them out for coffee afterwards. Of course, we couldn’t find a coffee shop, so we went to Mister Donut. Hey, I’ll take what I can get!

Have a great Thanksgiving everyone, and I'll talk to you all soon. This weekend I'm heading up to my cousin Shina's house for dinner. I have to take a car, two buses, two trains, and an airplane just to get there. The ride back is worse! Gambarimasu!!!

Sayonara,
Maikeru
^_^

Things That Amaze Me

Some things in this world don't make sense. Back in America, I wonder why my taxes are so confusing. Or, why I can't buy the same number of hot dogs as buns when I go to the store. Or, why people ever liked Zima, let alone Zima Gold. Well, Japan has no shortage of it's own quirks. Some things are funny and some things are just frustrating. Here is my first list of "Things That Amaze Me":

- The Japanese have gone gonzo about recycling. I'm all for recycling, and please don't think I'm complaining. It's just that they've become garbage Nazis. I have 4 different trash cans (well one right now, but I have to buy 3 more). Each one takes a different color trash bag. Orange is for Burnables. Blue is for Non-Burnables. Green is for Cans and Glass. I forget what white is for. Everything that gets recycled must be washed first. I have to write my name on each bag in Katakana. If I haven't separated my trash correctly, it gets returned to me with a nasty-gram asking me to correct the problem. That means that someone is going through my trash!!! But, it doesn't stop there. I still have to take my plastic bags, plastic bottles (after I remove the wrappers and caps), and styrofoam, up to the grocery store and put them in the appropriate containers. I'm not allowed to put those items in the bags at the house. Ridiculous. Amazing, but ridiculous.

- Japan is full of contradictions. We are the most wired country in the world, but it took me 3 weeks to get my cable Internet turned on. First, they had to turn OFF the cable from my predecessor - they couldn't just transfer the line. Then, I had to wait 10 days for them to install the modem. The guy who installed the modem couldn't configure it. He just drops off the equipment. Then, I had to wait 3 more weeks for them to send me the paperwork that tells me how to set everything up. Amazing.

- Saving electricity has gone bonkers. The Japanese don't want to waste energy, so they don't typically use central heating, or "whole house" heaters, like baseboard heat or radiators. They have other devices, like kerosene heaters, electric radiators, mattress pad warmers, electric blankets, hot carpets that plug into the wall, and special tables called kotatsu that have heating elements underneath and a big blanket to keep your legs warm. Now, you are probably saying to yourself right now that it must be more energy to maintain all of these devices than to just heat your house - and you would be right! It doesn't make much sense. But, the Japanese way is to build houses that will last 20 or 30 years, so they don't put a lot of insulation in the house. Now, building a house like this would certainly make the house more expensive and energy inefficient, so they don't put in central heating units. But, if they just built a decent house, they wouldn't have such high energy bills and wouldn't need heating accoutrement out the wazoo. Plus, every year, dozens of people die from kerosene fumes in THEIR OWN HOUSES because they don't open a window when they are heating the place. Also, everything in Japan is made of paper and will flame up at the very slightest provocation. Why doesn't it dawn on anyone that they need to reconsider the whole "modern home" thing. It's amazing!

- Japanese students are supposed to be some of the most studious children in the world. There is an amazing amount of pressure on them to perform. They come to school at 7:30 AM and have class continuously until 4 PM. Then, they go right into club activity which runs until 7 PM or later. After that, they can go home, eat dinner, and see their family. Then, sometime after that, they are expected to do homework for their 15 different subjects that they have. Most don't do it. No wonder, since they have to come to school on Saturdays as well (year round). On Saturdays, they only have club activity since the law was changed a few years back, but it's all day long! Amazing.

- And, as far as club activity goes, they spend amazing amounts of time doing the activity. In my school, they play baseball if they are boys, volleyball if they are girls, or brass band if they aren't athletically inclined. The most amazing part of it, is that they don't actually play games or practice as a whole band. Well, they do sometimes, but most of the time, they just drill. The boys will practice throwing the ball to each other for hours at a time, days in row, weeks on end, before they actually play a game. This is Junior High, too. The younger students don't even get to play in the games until they have been on the team for a couple of years. I heard about a Tennis club at a nearby school where the kids don't even hit a ball for the first 2 or 3 years of practice. They just swing the racket around in the air until they "get the hang of it". Just plain amazing.

- The ATMs have "hours of operation". This isn't because they are inside the bank - they aren't. It's just customary for the bank to turn off its ATM at some point. Of course, my town is small, so the ATM is closed after 5PM and until 9AM in the morning. So, in the evening, I have to rush to the bank to get money if I need it. Now, you must be saying to yourself that surely it isn't that important because you can use a credit card at the grocery store or the gas station. You would be wrong. You can't use an ATM card, credit card, check (which they don't even have in Japan), or any other form of payment at the grocery store, gas station, or anywhere else. Amazing. But, what's even more amazing, and quite necessary, is that the ATM has a $10,000 daily limit! Friggin' amazing!!!

- Have you heard about the one where you have to separate your food garbage after lunch at school? No? Let me tell you. After lunch, when there are some fish bones on one plate, some inedible chewy seafood on another plate, and a quite unsavory pile of fermented soybean goo on the last, you can't just throw them out together. You have to put each food item's waste back in the container from whence it came. Now, I've watched the people that pick up the food containers after lunch, and they just put it all together and throw it out in the same place - the same place where all of the other trash goes, which ultimately ends up at the incinerator. We have a special bag for milk straws and straw wrappers. Then, the milk cartons have to be rinsed twice in water and gingerly taken apart at the seams so that it spreads flat like it was before it was a carton. These get stacked in a special bin. In all fairness, they might actually recycle the milk cartons, I don't know. But, everything else goes to the same incinerator. So, why do we have to go through this crazy procedure after eating lunch? Only the person who would fill the mysteriously absent lunch lady position knows. Amazing.

Well, that's it for now. I'll post some more amazing things another day. It's been a long time since I wrote anything, and it's probably because I've gotten depressed lately and wonder what I've gotten myself into. But, this winter will be a true test of my cold-weather endurance. And, it will also be a thorough test of my patience for silliness. Who knows. Maybe, I'll find that I'm just as silly as things are in Japan. Or, I'll discover that when I come home, there are an even greater number of silly things in America and write about how UN-amazing things are here.

Have a wonderful day/night and I hope to hear from any and all of you this season.

Maikeru
^_^